Lake Wylie Report 7.5.09 - 7.11.09

Lake Wylie is at its target elevation and has been there most of the week. Water temps are around 78 in the rivers, 84 on the main lake, and 90-92 in the South Fork River. The lake is basically clear.

Catches of 25-30 fish can be expected on parts of the lake, but the bite is not widespread. Pockets on creeks and coves can produce numerous fish, but the areas are small and best fished by drifting with repeated passes over the same area. Fish have finished spawning in certain area, but in other areas it is still winding down.

I was lucky enough to figure out a pattern in Friday nights Ted's Hunting and Fishing catfish tournament on Lake Wylie and landed 45 fish overnight. I was using perch, bream, and shad and all baits produced fish equally. The majority of the fish are in the 3-4 pound range, but anytime you can catch that many fish you usually get some nice ones, and that is what led to my tournament win. Everytime I found a pocket of fish I could hear LakeNormanBlues in the back of my mind saying, "never leave biting fish". I followed those words of wisdom and only fished three different spots to produce the 45 fish I caught.

Anchoring for fish is slow. Some big fish can be produced anchoring, especially in areas with current. The lack of rain, and lake levels are their target elevation, has limited the amount of water moving through the system. Waiting for current is at best a gamble right now.

The lunar phase this week seemed to make time of day critical, or at least the peak feeding coincided with the rising moon. Within a six hour trip an angler should hit on a major or minor feeding time, and the longer you can fish the greater your odds.

SCDNR is out in force writing tickets on Lake Wylie, so make sure you have your new 2009-2010 license and make sure your boat is in working order.